Fall Prevention 102 – Eat Your Proteins to Stop Losing Your Muscle Mass
I wrote about Fall Prevention 101 in Jan 2018. A short recap on the key points in that article:
- We lose our muscle masses as we age
- Through strength-training, muscles can be strengthened and toned to slow down, prevent, and may even reverse the loss.
- An infographic on the type of strength-training exercises that one can embark on
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According to Dr Tan Shi Ming of Singapore General Hospital, loss of muscle mass is making the seniors more prone to falls, hence, their risk to hip fracture. As an orthopaedic surgeon, he also shared about seniors with hip fractures losing muscle mass, experiencing functional decline, complication, and even death during the recovery period when they are inactive (The Straits Times, 2019, More protein in ice-cream, soups to boost seniors’ health. 24 June 2019. ) The same article also stated that many people do not realise that they need to consume more protein while some find it difficult to change their dietary habits to increase their protein intake.
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How much protein does one need in one’s diet every day?
According to the Health Promotion Board, our daily food intake should resemble the above diagram, My Healthy Plate, three times a day. In other word, we should ensure that we are eating food rich in protein three times a day. One serving of protein is 90 grams of meat, fish and seafood which resembles one palm-sized of meat and fish or five medium prawns. 2 glasses of milk, 2 slices of cheese (40 grams) and three eggs (150 grams) consist of one serving of protein too. For plant-based protein, one serving is equivalent to 3/4 cup (120 grams) of cooked pulses (peas, beans, and lentils). One box of tofu at the supermarket consists of two servings of proteins.
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HOW CAN you start to consume more protein, more HBV (High Biological Value) protein to maintain your muscle mass as part of fall prevention?
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The following infographics presents you with essential information for your understanding about proteins so that you can start to increase your daily protein while the Health Promotion Board works with the food manufacturers to reformulate products with higher levels of protein to help you keep your muscle and bone mass.
